Method for manufacturing laminated prepreg members

ABSTRACT

A prepreg tape is firstly prepared by bonding prepreg layer to a backing paper and then the prepreg tape is cut to a depth enough to cut the prepreg tape but not the backing paper. An unnecessary portion of the prepreg tape is removed from the backing paper to obtain a cut prepreg tape. A laminating attachment is moved in a predetermined direction while urging the prepreg tape against the surface of an operating table. The cut prepreg tape is peeled off from the backing paper and the peeled off prepreg tape is bonded to the operating table. The cut prepreg tapes are successively oriented in a predetermined direction and juxtaposed to form a laminated sheet. The sheet is that mounted on a mold of a predetermined shape. When the impregnated thermosetting resin is perfectly cured under heat and pressure, a product useful for assembling various vehicles can be obtained.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/756,235,filed Sep. 10, 1991, which application is entirely incorporated hereinby reference, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing alaminated prepreg member or article by laminating prepreg layersprepared by impregnating setting or thermoplastic resin into reinforcedfibers, and more particularly, a method and apparatus for efficientlyand automatically manufacturing a laminated prepreg member by using thesame operating table.

A prepreg is a type of moldable material used for making reinforcedplastics and is prepared by uniformly impregnating a thermosetting resinprepared by admixing a curing agent, a coloring agent, and a filler at asuitable ratio into such reinforcing member as a glass mat or a glasscloth. After impregnating, the prepreg is dried to semi-set or curedstate so that the resulting prepreg member is pliable. When using theprepreg member to form parts of motor cars, aeroplanes, motor boats,etc. the prepreg member is coated on a mold of the part coated with amold release agent. After the prepreg member has been perfectly set orcured under pressure and heat, the completed product is hard and lightand has a strength larger than that of steel sheet. For this reason, inrecent years prepreg products are abundantly used in various vehicles.

Heretobefore, sport or leisure merchandise, and structural parts ofvarious machines have been made of such composite materials as carbonfibers reinforced with plastic (CFRP) or the like. Such compositematerials have been prepared by impregnating thermosetting orthermoplastic resin into carbon fibers, aramid fibers, boron fibers,glass fibers or other reinforcing fibers to prepare a prepreg layer.Then the prepreg layers are laminated at different angles to obtain alaminated prepreg sheet. The laminated prepreg sheet is cut to have ashape suitable for parts to be prepared. A cut piece of a laminatedprepreg sheet is mounted on a shaping jig and then applied with heat andpressure to be molded into an article having a desired configuration andstrength.

In the past, a laminated prepreg member has been prepared by forming alaminated prepreg sheet by using a prepreg laminating apparatus and thenconveying the sheet to a trimming machine for cutting the sheet to havea desired configuration. For efficiently laminating the prepreg sheets,a flexible tape (hereinafter called as a backing paper) having onesurface impregnated with a silicone is prepared and then the prepregsheet is bonded to the other surface to obtain a prepreg tape. In theprepreg laminating apparatus, the prepreg layer is peeled off from theprepreg tape and the layer is continuously oriented in a predetermineddirection, and then laminated while applying a pressure to obtain aprepreg sheet. Furthermore, for identifying individual laminated prepregmembers, a marking device is used for applying an identification markonto a portion of each laminated prepreg member

In the foregoing method and apparatus for preparing a laminated prepregmember, respective manufacturing steps have been carried outdiscontinuously at different places. Moreover, it has been necessary toconvey laminated prepreg sheets to different places at which respectivesteps are carried out. For this reason, there are the followingproblems:

(a) when a thermosetting type prepreg tape and a laminated prepregmember are maintained at a room temperature, the chemical reactionproceeds to harden the material. For this reason, where it is necessaryto temporarily interrupt the molding operation at an intermediate pointof adjacent steps, it is necessary to temporarily store the laminatedprepreg member in a refrigerating cabinet maintained at a temperature ofbelow about -18° C. This necessitates a useless operation and muchoperating time.

(b) Since not cured prepreg and laminated prepreg member are soft andflexible their handling and conveyance are difficult. For this reason,it is necessary to use a special jig for conveying the laminated prepregmember. Thus, the conveying operation is not only troublesome but alsorequires a long operating time.

(c) Since treating times at various steps are different, even when thesteps are automated, it is impossible to realize a line balance betweenrespective steps, thereby decreasing the actual operating time of theapparatus as a whole.

(d) Where machining operation or manual operation is necessary atrespective steps, it is necessary to prepare a manufacturing program foreach step and to prepare a working program. Thus, the supervision ofmanufacturing becomes troublesome and not efficient.

(e) Where the laminating operation of the prepreg piece and the cuttingoperation of the laminated prepreg sheet are made on different operatingtables, at least two operating tables are necessary, thus increasing theinstallation space of the manufacturing apparatus.

(f) Where a prepreg sheet is formed by peeling off a desired portionfrom a prepreg tape, the sheet has been formed while the prepreg tape isbeing cut. Accordingly, it has been impossible to laminate the prepregtape during the cutting thereof, whereby a long time is necessary forlaminating the prepreg sheets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel methodand apparatus for manufacturing a laminated prepreg member capable ofautomatically and efficiently manufacturing a laminated prepreg member.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel laminated prepregmember manufacturing machine capable of automatically and efficientlymanufacturing laminated prepreg members having various configurations.

A further object of this machine is to provide a novel laminated prepregmanufacturing machine for simplifying the manufacturing system andreducing the installation space.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel laminatedprepreg manufacturing machine for removing unnecessary portions from aprepreg tape according to a predetermined program.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel prepreg segmentassembling apparatus of a simple configuration and for reducing aninstallation space and improving control ability so as to accurately andefficiently assemble the prepreg segments.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a method ofmanufacturing a laminated prepreg member comprising the steps ofpreparing a prepreg tape made up of a prepreg layer bonded to a backingpaper; cutting the prepreg tape to have a predetermined configuration toa depth enough to cut the prepreg tape but not cut the backing paper;removing unnecessary portion of the prepreg tape from the backing paperto obtain a cut prepreg tape; moving a laminating attachment in apredetermined direction while urging the cut prepreg tape from which theunnecessary prepreg portion has been removed against the surface of anoperating table; peeling off the cut prepreg tape from the backingpaper; bonding the peeled off prepreg tape to the surface of theoperating table, successively; orienting, in a predetermined direction,the cut prepreg tapes to form a prepreg sheet; urging the cut prepregtape while it is being moved in a predetermined direction against theprepreg sheet; continuously laminating the cut prepreg tapes andorienting the cut prepreg tapes in a predetermined direction to obtain alaminated sheet including a plurality of prepreg layers; trimming thelaminated prepreg sheet on the operating table; separating and takingout the trimmed and laminated member from the laminated prepreg sheet.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided anapparatus for manufacturing a laminated prepreg member comprisingprepreg cutting means including a prepreg tape cutting device for only aprepreg layer of a prepreg tape; means for removing an unnecessaryportion from the prepreg tape; an operating table on which a laminatedprepreg sheet is formed, a removable head for moving above the operatingtable in parallel with the surface of the operating table; a laminationattachment mounted on the removable head; laminated prepreg tape takeout means located on the downstream side of the operating table; aplurality of the lamination attachments and trimming attachments beingprepared and selected ones of the lamination attachments and thetrimming attachments being mounted on the removable head.

According to a further aspect of this invention there is providedapparatus for manufacturing a prepreg sheet comprising an operatingtable, linear ways installed on one side of the operating table inparallel therewith; a column base movable along the linear ways; apinion and a rack meshing with the pinion, the pinion and the rackcooperating to move the column base in parallel with the operatingtable; an arm supported by the column base to extend across theoperating table, a feed screw contained in the arm and rotated by adriving nut; a saddle supported by the outer end of the arm to bemovable in the vertical direction; a laminated head supported by arotatable shaft; the laminating head including a pay out reel for payingout a laminated prepreg tape, a backing paper take up reel and a bondingroller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view useful to explain the manufacturing steps ofa laminated prepreg member according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing one example of a cut prepreg tape utilizedin this invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing certain main parts of amanufacturing apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing one embodiment of the prepregmember manufacturing apparatus according to this invention;

FIG. 5A is a side view showing an example of a laminating attachment;

FIG. 5B is a sectional view of the laminating attachment shown in FIG.5A, taken along a line 5B--5B in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view showing a laminating roller of thelaminating attachment and certain member associated therewith;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing one example of a removablehead;

FIG. 8 is a front view showing one example of a trimming attachment;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the trimming attachment shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows several examples of cutting knives utilized for trimming;

FIG. 11 is a sectional side view showing one example of a separatingtable;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a portion of the separating table takenalong a line XII--XII shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a control apparatus utilized in thisinvention;

FIG. 14 is a front view showing a modified prepreg cutting apparatus;

FIG. 15 is a front view partly in section showing the detail of theprepreg cutting device shown in FIG. 14 taken along a line XV--XV inFIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a device for removing an unnecessaryportion of the prepreg tape;

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the removing device shown in FIG. 16;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are partial side views showing other examples of thedevice for removing an unnecessary portion of the prepreg tape;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a layingapparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 21 is a side view, partly in section, showing the laying apparatusshown in FIG. 20; and

FIG. 22 is a side view, partly in section, showing a modifiedembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A method of manufacturing the laminated prepreg member of this inventionis shown in steps (A)-(D) of FIG. 1.

At first, a layer of prepreg 12 is bonded to a flexible tape shapedbacking paper 11 to prepare a prepreg tape 10. By using a suitablecutting means, for example a ultrasonic cutter, grooves 13 are cutthrough the prepreg, layer 12 to which the backing paper 11 has beenbonded. The depth of the groove 13 is such that it perfectly cuts theprepreg 12 but does not cut the backing paper 11. As shown in FIG. 1,the grooves extend from side edge to side edge across the prepreg tapesuch that unnecessary prepreg portions 15 are positioned between prepegsegments 14. The grooves 13 form a plurality of prepreg segments 14. Theposition and orientation of the grooves 13 are determined by theorientation of the prepreg segments 14 and the size of the prepregsheets which are utilized in the succeeding prepreg molding step. Asquare prepreg sheet 20 can be formed by continuously arranging aplurality of prepreg segments 14 at an angle of 45° as shown in FIG.1(ii). In this case, the positions of grooves 13 are determined suchthat a plurality of prepreg segments 14 can be formed, each having adesired configuration and dimension which are necessary for forming adesired prepreg sheet 20 with a predetermined periphery such as thesquare periphery shown in FIG. 1. Then for removing portions notnecessary to form the prepreg sheet 20, a prepreg removing device isused which removes unwanted prepreg portion between adjacent prepregsegments 14 but leaving the backing paper 11 as it is. The portions fromwhich unnecessary portions have been removed are designated by areference numeral 15. In this manner, a cut prepreg tape 10 as shown inFIG. 1(A) can be obtained comprising individual, spaced prepreg segments14 which are bonded to the backing paper 11 from which unnecessaryportions have been removed. The cut prepreg tape with unnecessaryportions removed is ready for the next step of the process a explainedbelow.

This prepreg tape 10 is wound about a tape winding member by usingbacking paper 11. The cut prepreg tape 10 thus wound is conveyed onto aflat operating table and then continuously moved in a predetermineddirection (45° in this embodiment) while urging the prepreg segment 14against the surface of the operating table. Then the prepreg tape 10 iscontinuously payed out, and the prepreg segment 14 is peeled off fromthe backing paper 11 by the adhesive force to the surface of theoperating table to be continuously oriented in a predetermined direction(that is 45°). In the directions of arrows shown in FIG. 1(B) the cutprepreg tapes 10 are continuously moved at an angle of 45° while matingtogether the side edges of the cut prepreg tapes 12, whereby a prepregsheet 20 of a predetermined shape (square in this embodiment) isobtained.

As above described, the first layer of the prepreg sheet 20 is formed,and a second layer of the prepreg sheet is laminated on the first sheet20. In the same manner as above described, the second layer of prepregsheet is formed by preparing a cut prepreg tape 10 from whichunnecessary portions have been removed, moving the cut prepreg tape in apredetermined direction (for example, by rotating by 90° the orientationangle of the tape with respect to the angle of the first layer tape) andcontinuously orienting a prepreg segment 14 having a predeterminedconfiguration. By repeating these operations, a laminated prepreg sheet30 can be formed which comprises a lamination of a predetermined numberof layers of prepreg sheets.

Where prepreg sheets are laminated on a mold release sheet placed on thesurface of the operating table, the surface of the operating table canbe protected. Furthermore, removal of a product from the operating tableis facilitated.

The laminated prepreg sheet 30 formed on the operating table is cut witha cutter to a depth such that the laminated prepreg sheets are perfectlycut but the mold release sheet would not be cut. Then the partially cutlaminated prepreg sheet is trimmed into laminated prepreg pieces 40a and40b (see FIG. 1(C)). Then respective laminated prepreg pieces 40a and40b are taken out by using a conveyor (see FIG. 1(D)). Respectivelaminated prepreg pieces 40a and 40b are applied with identificationmarks 41 with a marking device. It is advantageous to apply theseidentification marks before the pieces are taken out as products.

After taking out the laminated prepreg pieces 40a and 40b, the remainingportion 45 of the laminated prepreg sheet is taken away from the uppersurface of the operating table. The surface of the operating table isused for preparing the next new laminated prepreg member.

In the foregoing description, a method of forming a square shapedlaminated prepreg sheet 30 has been described by sequentially arrangingprepreg segments 14 in a direction of 45°, but where a square laminatedprepreg sheet is to be manufactured a prepreg tape 10' formed with slotsextending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction ofthe tape as shown in FIG. 2 is prepared. In this case too, portions 15'to be removed later are formed between slots 13' by anticipating apermissible error for the laminated prepreg layers.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show one example of apparatus for manufacturing alaminated prepreg member described above.

This apparatus comprises a prepreg cutting apparatus 50 having a prepregcutting device 120 for cutting a prepreg tape 12 of a prepreg sheet tohave a desired configuration, and a removing device 150 for removingunnecessary prepreg portion from a prepreg tape 12. The prepreg cuttingmeans can be an ultrasonic wave cutter, for example. A control devicecontained in the prepreg cutting apparatus 50 controls the position ofcutting and the depth of cutting. The cutting position is determined inaccordance with the configuration of the resulting prepreg sheet and thedirection of orientation of the prepreg piece. The prepreg cut depth isdetermined such that the cutter cuts only the prepreg but not thebacking paper 11.

The cutting operation of the prepreg is effected by paying out theprepreg tape 12 from a pay out roller 111 and then cutting the prepregtape to a predetermined depth with cutting device 120. Then, the prepregtape 12 is sent to a undesired portion removing means 150 at whichportions of the prepreg tape not necessary to form a prepreg sheet areremoved. The removable of the unnecessary portions can be done by urgingan adhesive tape against the unnecessary portions for removing them byan adhesive portion or by using a pin which pierces and removes theunnecessary portions.

A prepreg tape (cut prepreg tape) from which unnecessary portions havebeen removed is taken up (or wound about) a take up roller 171. When theprepreg tape of one roll has been cut by the cutting apparatus 50, aroll of a new prepreg tape is mounted on the pay out roll 111.

The detail of the cutting device will now be described with reference toFIGS. 14-19.

As shown in FIG. 14, on one side of a frame 100 is mounted a pay outroller 111 adapted to pay out a prepreg tape 110 which is advanced by apair of feed rollers 112. These feed rollers are intermittently rotatedby a servomotor, not shown.

On the downstream side of the feed rollers 112 is installed a prepregcutting device 120. As shown in detail in FIG. 15, the cutting device120 comprises a cutting blade 121 which is removably mounted on aultrasonic oscillator holder 122 which generates ultrasonic oscillationapplied to cutting blade 121. Electric power for operating theultrasonic oscillator is supplied through lead wires, not shown. Theultrasonic oscillator holder 122 is secured to a movable block 125through a bracket 124. One side surface of the movable block is slidablymounted on a guide member 126 formed with a vertical guide way. Themovable block 125 is provided with a vertical threaded opening 125a forreceiving a threaded rod 127 driven by a small servomotor or a steppingmotor 128.

The guide member 126 is secured to a slidable member 132 of a verticallymovable member 131 so that the guide member 126 is moved in the verticaldirection together with the slidable member 132. An air cylinder or apressure oil cylinder can be used for moving the vertically movablemember 131 which is secured to the vertical leg of a L shaped bracket133.

A vertical shaft 134 is secured to the horizontal leg of bracket 133.The vertical shaft 134 is driven by a servomotor 136 mounted on ahorizontal arm 135. This horizontal arm is reciprocated in thehorizontal direction along frame 100 and in a direction orthogonal toframe 100.

A horizontal table 141 is disposed beneath cutting blade 121. One end ofhorizontal table 141 is secured to frame 100 and an anvil 142 is mountedon the horizontal table 141. A plurality of air openings 143 areprovided through the upper portion of anvil 142. The air openings 143are communicated with a horizontal air passage 144 formed in the anvil.The air passage 144 is communicated with air suction means, not shown,through a pipe 145.

A measuring device 146 for measuring the degree of projection of cutterblade 121 is embedded at the righthand end of anvil 142. The measuringdevice 146 has a vertically movable projection 146a adapted to engagethe lower end of cutter blade 121. A detector 147 is secured to thelower end of the movable block 125 for measuring the flatness of theupper surface of anvil 142.

On the downstream side of the prepreg cutting device 120 is provided anunnecessary prepreg portion removing device 150 shown in FIG. 16 isinstalled for the purpose of removing unnecessary prepreg portion from aprepreg tape 110' cut to have a predetermined configuration. Theunnecessary prepreg removing device 150 is provided with a removing arm151 for separating unnecessary prepreg portion away from the backingpaper by a swinging motion, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. One end of thearm 151 is secured to a rotary shaft 152 rotatably supported in a holder153. The arm 151 is swung between a solid line position and a dot anddash line position as shown in FIG. 16. A swinging motor 154 is mountedat the lower end of holder 153 for rotating shaft 152.

At the free end of arm 151 at which it engages the prepreg is formed anarc having a radius of curvature of about 5 mm.

The holder 153 is supported by a vertical supporting member 155, theupper end 155a hereof being moved in the horizontal direction by athreaded rod 157 rotatably supported by a horizontal guide arm 156. Asthe threaded rod 157 can be used a ball screw driven by a servomotor oran oil pressure cylinder, not shown.

A horizontal table 161 is disposed beneath the unnecessary prepregportion removing arm 151. One end of table 161 is secured to frame 100,and the anvil 162 is mounted on horizontal table 161. A plurality of airports 163 are provided through the upper wall of anvil 162, the airports 163 being communicated with an air passage 164 which in turn iscommunicated with air suction means, not shown, through a pipe 165.

A cut prepreg tape take up device 170 is installed on the downstreamside of the unnecessary prepreg portion removing device 150 for takingup cut prepreg tape 110" (see FIG. 17) from which a unnecessary portionof the prepreg has been removed from the backing paper. As shown in FIG.14, the cut prepreg tape take up device 170 has a reel 171 taking up thecut prepreg tape 110". The take up reel 171 is driven by a drivingmechanism, not shown, contained in the main frame 100.

Between the unnecessary prepreg portion removing device 150 and the takeup device 170 is arranged a chute 173 for preventing a lateral movementof the cut prepreg tape 110".

Various detectors are disposed along the passage of the prepreg tape.For example, an ultrasonic oscillation sensor 181 is installed near takeup device 170 for measuring the diameter of the cut prepreg tape 110"wound about the take up reel 171. The output of the oscillation sensor181 is fed back to a control device of a torque motor, not shown, fordriving take up device 171 for maintaining at a constant value the takeup tension of the cut prepreg tape 110". Edge detectors 182 and 183 aredisposed near the pay out reel 111 and take up reel 171 respectively.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 14-19 operates as follows.

Firstly, a roll 110A of the prepreg tape 110 is mounted on pay out reel111 and the leading end of the prepreg tape 110 is clamped between apair of feed rollers 112. Feed rollers 112 are intermittently rotatedfor moving the prepreg tape 110 toward right by a predetermined length.At this time, for the purpose of applying a desired tension to theprepreg tape, a torque opposite to the normal pay out torque is appliedto a torque motor, not shown, for driving the pay out reel 111.

The prepreg tape 110 is moved to the prepreg tape cutting device 120.Then the backing paper 110b (see FIG. 15) of the prepreg tape 110 issucked against the upper surface of anvil 142 by the attractive force ofair in the air passage 144.

Then the prepreg tape 110 is cut by cutting blade 121. To this end,horizontal arm 135 and bracket 133 are moved for bringing cutting blade121 to a desired horizontal position. At the same time, verticallymovable device 121 is operated for vertically moving slidable piece 132together with guide member 126, movable block 125 and ultrasonic waveoscillator holder 122 for effecting approximate positioning of thevertical cutter blade 121. Thereafter, the flatness detector 147 isoperated to detect the flatness of the upper surface of anvil 142. Theoutput of the flatness detector 147 is fed back to the control device,not shown, of servomotor 128 for a predetermined amount to rotatethreaded rod 127 so as to move a little movable block 125 and cutterblade 121. Due to this small movement, the cutter blade 121 is loweredto a position corresponding to the thickness of prepreg sheet 110a.

After adjusting the vertical position of cutter blade 121, horizontalarm 135 and bracket 133 are moved in accordance with a prepreparedprogram for moving cutter blade 121 along a predetermined locus, therebycutting prepreg sheet 110a. At this time, ultrasonic oscillation isimparted to cutter blade 121 from ultrasonic oscillator holder 122.Although the cutting of prepreg sheet 110a is possible even when suchultrasonic vibration is not applied, the application of the ultrasonicvibration ensures smooth cutting as well as longer operating life of thecutter blade 121.

Not only during the cutting operation but also at the time ofexchanging, the cutter blade 121 is periodically urged againstprojection 146a of the measuring device 146 for detecting change of themounting position of cutter blade 121 and the wear quantity occurringduring the cutting operation. These detected values are fed back to thecontrol device of servomotor 128. Thus, a fine control is effected suchthat the cutter blade 121 would be positioned at a suitable position notto cut the backing paper 110b.

When prepreg 110a is cut by prepreg cutting device 120 and after apredetermined number slits are formed, the prepreg tape 110' istransferred to unnecessary prepreg portion removing device 150 shown inFIG. 16 for removing unnecessary portions.

As shown in FIG. 16, after transferred onto horizontal table 161, thebacking paper 110b is sucked against the upper surface of anvil 162 bysuction through air ports 163. Then swinging motor 154 is actuated toswing arm 151 so that its free end engages one end of unnecessaryprepreg portion 110c between slits formed by cutting blade 121. Underthese conditions, threaded rod 157 is rotated to move supporting member155 in a direction essentially transverse (either away from or towards aparticular side edge) to the direction of tape travel and along a planeessentially parallel with the planar upper surface of the prepreg tapeas represented by the direction arrows in FIG. 16. FIG. 16 also showsunnecessary prepreg portion 110c is peeled off from backing paper 110bby the movement of supporting member 155 and attached swinging arm 151.The peeled off portion drops from an end opposite to the peel off startposition of the prepreg tape 110'.

A cut prepreg tape 110" obtained by removing unnecessary portion of theprepreg 110c from backing paper 110b is wound into a roll by cut prepregtape take up device 170. The roll thus formed is mounted on a prepreglaminating machine, not shown, for laminating prepreg layers.

As above described prepreg tape 110 is continuously moved from pay outreel 111 to take up reel 171 through prepreg cutting device 120 andunnecessary prepreg removing device 150 where the running position ofprepreg tape 110 deviates in the transverse direction of the tape 110,the positions of the edges of the tape 110 are detected by edgedetectors 182 and 183 shown in FIG. 14. In response to the outputs ofedge detectors 182 and 183, the pay off reel 111 and take up reel 171are displaced in a direction perpendicular to the running direction ofthe prepreg tape so as to align the edges of prepreg tape, therebyobtaining a neatly wound coil of the prepreg tape.

According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14-19 it is possible toautomatically cut the necessary portion of the prepreg tape to have apredetermined configuration and to remove unnecessary portions of theprepreg tape.

FIGS. 18 and 19 are partial views showing other embodiments of theprepreg cutting device and a removing device for removing unnecessaryportions of the prepreg tape.

In the modification shown in FIG. 18 a prepreg tape formed with cutlines is subjected to a bending deformation for peeling off unnecessaryprepreg tape portions from the backing paper. More particularly, anedger device 175 is provided on one side of the prepreg tape cuttingdevice. The edger device 175 is constituted by a vertical memberdisposed perpendicular to the direction of running of the prepreg tape110'. The upper portion of one side of the edger device 175 is formedwith a curved portion 175a having a relatively large radius ofcurvature. It is advantageous to select the radius of curvature of thebending angle θ with respect to the running surface to be about 5°-10°when the prepreg tape 110' is bent along the curved portion 175a.

On the downstream side of the edger device 175 is arranged a guideroller 172 to be movable in the vertical direction to traverse therunning surface of the prepreg tape 110'.

Between the edger device 175 and a guide roller 172 is disposed a chuckdevice 176 made up of an upper plate 176a and a lower plate 176b withthe running prepreg tape 110' interposed therebetween. The chuck device176 can reciprocate between the running surface of prepreg tape 110' anda bucket 174 adapted to receive unnecessary prepreg portions.

According to the unnecessary portion removing device of the prepreg tapeshown in this modified embodiment, a cut prepreg tape 110' is conveyedinto the removing device 150 while sliding on the upper surface of theedger device 175. Immediately before reaching the unnecessary prepregportion 110c which should be removed, to the curved portion 175a ofedger device 175, guide roller 172 is lowered from the upper positionshown by a solid line to a lower position shown by dot and dash lines.The lowered guide roller 172 bends the prepreg tape 110' along thecurved surface 175a of the edger device 175.

By this bending operation, the portion of the prepreg tape 110' formedwith slits is separated from the backing paper 110b not formed withslits by the action of curved surface 175a. Unnecessary portions of theprepreg tape 110c are moved in the horizontal direction, whereas thebacking paper is moved toward the take up device along the guide roller172 after being downwardly bent by the guide roller.

The position of the prepreg tape which has been provided with slits isseparated from the backing paper 110b not formed with slits by thecurved portion 175b. Unnecessary portions of the prepreg 110c areconveyed in the horizontal direction, whereas the backing sheet 110b ismoved toward the take up device along the guide roller 172 after beingbent by the guide roller.

The leading end of the unnecessary portion 110c moving in the horizontaldirection is mounted on lower plate 176b of chuck device 176, the lowerplate 176b being positioned at a position a little below the runningsurface of prepreg tape 110'. Then the upper plate 176a is lowered forclamping the leading end of the unnecessary portion 110c of prepreg andthe clamped unnecessary portion is moved to bucket 174 where unnecessaryportion 110c is completely separated from the backing paper. Then theupper plate 176a and the lower plate 176b of the chuck device 176 areseparated away to release the unnecessary portion whereby unnecessaryportion 110c of the prepreg falls down into bucket 174.

Upon completion of the removal of the unnecessary portion 110c, theguide roller 172 is raised to a position above the running surface ofthe prepreg tape to prepare to receive the next unnecessary portion.According to the removing device 150 of the unnecessary portion of theprepreg it is possible to remove the unnecessary portion while theprepreg tape is being conveyed or fed with respect to the removingdevice, thereby shortening the operating time.

In a further modification shown in FIG. 19 the unnecessary portion ofthe prepreg tape is peeled off from the backing paper by an adhesiveforce. In this modification, vertically spaced two rollers 186 and 187are provided to clamp the prepreg tape 110' therebetween. An adhesivetape 185 is wound about the upper roller 180 with its adhesive surfacedirected outwardly. The adhesive tape 185 is payed out from a pay outreel 188 and taken up by a take up reel 184. A slit braking force isapplied to the shaft of the pay out reel 183 while the take up reel 184is driven by a motor, for example a torque motor. As a consequence theadhesive tape 185 can be conveyed between pay out reel 188 and take upreel 184 and about the upper roller 187 without any slack.

The prepreg tape 110' whose prepreg tape alone has been cut by theprepreg cutting device is conveyed, and when the unnecessary portion ofthe prepreg tape comes to a position beneath the upper roller 187, thisroller is lowered for clamping the prepreg tape 110' between the upperand lower rollers 187 and 187. As a consequence the unnecessary portionadheres to adhesive tape 185. When the upper roller 187 is raised, theunnecessary portion of the prepreg tape adhered to the adhesive tape istaken up by the take up reel together with the adhesive tape 185.

With this modified embodiment unnecessary portions of the prepreg tapecan be removed with a relatively simple apparatus.

The device for removing the unnecessary portion of the prepreg tape mayalso include a device in which an adhesive block is urged against theprepreg tape to remove the unnecessary portion, and a vacuum adsorbingpad which removes the unnecessary portions.

According to the modified embodiments described above it is possible byintermittent activation of the removing device to remove only theunnecessary portions of the prepreg tape according to a predeterminedprogram.

Turning back to FIG. 3, a prepreg tape exchanging device 55 is providedadjacent to prepreg tape cutting device 50. The prepreg tape exchangingdevice 55 receives from prepreg cutting device 56 a prepreg tape fromwhich unnecessary portions have been removed. The purpose of the prepregtape exchanging device is to mount a cut prepreg tape which has beenwound into a coil to be used in the succeeding prepreg sheet formingstep on a prepreg laminating means 61 (hereinafter called a laminationattachment). Further, the prepreg tape exchanging device 55 is used totake out the backing paper from the cut prepreg tape which has beenused.

Mounting of the prepreg tape on the lamination attachment can beeffected by simultaneously mounting rolls of the cut prepreg tape on apay out reel and a backing paper take up reel. Removal of the prepregtape which has been used from the lamination attachment 61 can be madeby simultaneously removing a vacant reel and a reel which has taken upthe backing paper.

Adjacent to the prepreg tape exchanging device 55 is positioned anattachment stocker 65 storing lamination attachments 61 and a prepreglaminated sheet cutting means 63 (hereinafter called a trimmingattachment). This attachment stocker 65 takes a form of a box with itsupper side opened and its inner side is partitioned into a plurality ofchambers respectively containing lamination attachment 61, and trimmingattachment 63.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an operating table 80 including a tablesurface 81 on which the prepreg laminated sheet being formed is locatedat a position adjacent to attachment stocker 65. The table surface 81has a horizontal flat surface and made of material of high rigidity notto deform when a lamination pressure is applied onto the table surface81. On the table 80 is mounted a mold release sheet 82 which is arrangedto be taken up by a take up roller 83 disposed at the righthand end ofoperating table 80, the take up roller 83 being rotated by an electricmotor 84.

A guide rail 85 extends in the longitudinal direction of operating table80 for slidably carrying a column 71. A cantilever arm 72 having alinear guide member is connected to column 71 to traverse the uppersurface 81 of operating table 80. The arm 72 supports a removable head70 which has a holding mechanism for holding a lamination attachment 61or a trimming attachment and a swinging mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 7, the removable head 70 comprises a hollow shaft 702rotatably supported in a hollow cylindrical casing 701 by bearings 701aand 701b. In the hollow shaft 702 is contained a holding mechanismhaving a similar construction as a tool holder of conventional machinetools. Thus, the holding mechanism is constructed to hold a pull stud623 projecting from the upper end of lamination attachment 61 ortrimming attachment by a collect 703. This collect is secured to thelower end of draw bar 704 which is biased upwardly by dish shapedsprings 705 surrounding the upper portion of draw bar 704. The draw bar704 is moved downwardly as viewed in FIG. 7 by an oil pressure piston706 provided for the upper portion of the draw bar 704 against thebiasing force of dish shaped springs 705. As the draw bar 704 is moveddownwardly, the engagement between collect 703 and pull stud 623 isreleased with the result that lamination attachment 61 or trimmingattachment 63 can be removed from removable head 70. A worm wheel 707 isfit on the outer periphery of the hollow shaft 702, and a worm 708meshing with the worm wheel 707 is rotatably supported by a casing 701.The worm 708 is driven by an electric motor, not shown.

The removable head is provided with coupling means, not shown, fortransmitting such actuating power as oil pressure, voltage or electricpower and control signals to the laminating attachment 61 and thetrimming attachment 63.

The movable head 70 is moved in the horizontal direction along a linearguide member 709 (see FIG. 7) of arm 72 by such moving means 73 as aball screw, for example. Arm 72 is movable in the longitudinal directionof the operating table 80 together with column 71. As column slidingmember can be used a rack 86 (see FIG. 3) formed on the surface of guiderail 85, a pinion, not shown, meshing with the rack and a pinion drivingmotor. As shown in FIG. 7, a lamination attachment 61 is secured to thelower end of removable head 70.

The laminating attachment 61 is constructed to hold a cut prepreg tape10 from which the unnecessary portions of the prepreg tape have beenremoved by prepreg cutting device 50, successively pay out prepreg tape10, and to laminate prepreg segments 14 by orienting them at apredetermined angle and shifting the positions of the prepreg segments.FIGS. 5A and 5B show side views of the lamination attachment.

More particularly, the lamination attachment 61 comprises a supportingmember 611 adapted to support a pay out reel supporting a coil of thecut prepreg tape, and another supporting member 612 adapted to rotatablysupport a reel 102 for taking up the backing paper remaining afterpeeling off the prepreg tape. A laminated roller 613 is disposed betweensupporting members 611 and 612. The laminating roller 613 engages therear side of the backing paper 11 of the cut prepreg tape 10 and urgesthe cut prepreg tape 10 to the surface 81 of the operating table 80 onwhich laminating operation is performed. The laminating roller 613 ismade of elastic rubber or metal. The laminating roller 613 is held by apressure applying mechanism 614 and is moved in the vertical directionwith respect to the lamination surface by an air pressure cylinder 615connected to the pressure applying mechanism.

The cut prepreg tape 10 is payed out from supply reel 101A and woundabout a take up reel 102A after passing through lamination roller 613.For controlling the position of the cut prepreg tape 10 to an accurateposition while the tape is being moved, various tape position detectorsare provided to be described as follows. More particularly, edgeposition detectors 616 (FIG. 5A) are disposed for detecting both edgepositions of the cut prepreg tape 10 and a tape position correctingdevice 617 is provided near the supply reel 101 (see FIG. 5B) forreciprocating it in a direction perpendicular to its plane of rotation(that is in the axial direction). As a consequence, the central positionof the payed out cut prepreg tape 10 is detected by the edge positiondetectors 616. The signals outputted from these detectors are used toactuate the tape position correcting device 617 so as to always coincidewith each other the central position of the cut prepreg tape with thelamination roller 613.

A mechanical or optical prepreg end detector 618 is positionedimmediately below the lamination roller 613 for detecting an end of theprepreg tape. As shown in FIG. 6, for the purpose of forming a prepregsheet 20 the prepreg segment 14 is completely peeled off from thebacking paper 11. At the time of starting lamination of a new prepregsegment 14 on the already formed prepreg sheet 20, the prepreg enddetector 618 operates to accurately coincide the end of the new prepregsegment 14 to the end of the already formed prepreg sheet 20. Moreparticularly, when a prepreg segment 14 has been peeled off from the cutprepreg tape 10 and when the lamination step of the prepreg segment hascompleted, the lamination roller 613 is raised a little by the airpressure cylinder 615, and the pay out speed of the cut prepreg tape 10is decreased by a nip roller 619, and the prepreg end detector 618checks whether the end of the next prepreg segment reaches the properposition (coincidence point of the next lamination step) of thelamination roller 613. As the end of the new prepreg segment 14 reachesa predetermined position, the pay out of the cut prepreg tape 10 isstopped and the lamination roller 613 is lowered to the level of thenext lamination position. The nip roller 617 is positioned on thedownstream side of the lamination roller 613 for preventingmispositioning of the cut prepreg tape 10. The nip roller 619 alsoclamps the backing paper. After matching the end of the new prepregsegment with the end of the already laminated prepreg sheet 20, a nextlamination step is carried out.

Between the reel supporting member 611 and the lamination roller 613 arearranged a foreign substance detector 621 which detects foreignsubstance deposited on the surface of the prepreg tape to be laminated,a prepreg sheet heater 622 for increasing the stickiness of the prepregsegment before laminating it, and a sheet peel off correction device622a which restores the prepreg sheet peeled off from the backing paperto the original state (see FIG. 5A).

As shown in FIG. 7, a pull stud 623 supported by collect 703 of theremovable head 70 is provided to project above the lamination attachment61.

The purpose of the trimming attachment is to cut a desired prepreglaminated member of a prepreg laminated sheet already formed. Thetrimming attachment is also mounted on the removable head 70 in the samemanner as the lamination attachment 61.

FIGS. 8 through 10 show one example of the trimming attachment 60utilized in this embodiment. The trimming attachment 63 has a main body631 of the trimming attachment having an upper portion mounted on theremovable head 70. A trimming cutter blade 632 is mounted on the mainbody 631. As shown in FIG. 10, several types of the trimming cuttingblade can be used. One of cutting blades 632a, 632b and 632c havingdifferent shapes of cutting edge is mounted on a cutting bladeexchanging turret 633 by using a spindle. The cutting blade exchangingturret 633 is rotated by an electric motor 634 mounted on a turretsupporting member 638 which rotatably supports turret 633. By indexingand rotating the turret 633 a predetermined one of the cutting bladescan be used. Each one of the spindles 635 respectively mounted withcutting blades 632a, 632b and 632c is formed with a gear 635a meshingwith a pinion 636 driven by a servomotor 637 mounted on turret 633. Forthe purpose of simplifying the drawing, only pinion 636 meshing withgear 635a and servomotor 636 for a single spindle 635 are shown in FIG.8, it will be clear that other spindles are constructed in the samemanner.

The turret supporting member 638 (see FIG. 9) is held by one end of arm639, the other end thereof being connected to a slidable member 641which is slidable along a vertical rail 642 secured to the main body 631of the attachment. A motor supporting member 642a bent in the horizontaldirection is secured to the upper end of rail 642. A stepping motor 643is secured to the motor supporting member 642a for vertically moving thecutting blade. As shown in FIG. 9, the output shaft of stepping motor643 is formed as a threaded rod 643a mating with a nut 645 secured tothe slidable member 641.

A level detector 646 for detecting the level of the table surface 81 issecured at a position beneath the main body 631 of the attachment. Theoutput of the level detector 646 is supplied to a stepping motorcontroller 648 through an amplifier 647.

As shown in FIG. 8, a detector 651 is secured to the main body 631 ofthe attachment for measuring the extent of protrusion of the cuttingblade. Detector 651 is secured to the lower end of a holding arm 652secured to the main body 631 of the attachment such that the free end ofthe detector 651 will abut against the tip of the cutting blade mountedon the turret 633. The detector 651 is driven toward and away from thetip of the cutting blade by an electric motor 653 also secured to thelower end of the holding arm 652.

Furthermore, a compressed air ejecting type prepreg laminated sheetclamping device 654 is positioned beneath the main body of theattachment 631.

As the cutting blades 632a, 632b and 632c, can be used cutting bladeshaving various tip shapes as shown in FIG. 10. The cutting blade shownin FIG. 10(a) has a cutting edge 655a at one side of a thin plate withits lower end inclined. This cutting blade is suitable for cutting inone direction. The cutting blade shown in FIG. 10(b) is made of a thinplate having an arcuate cutting edge 655b at its lower end and is usedto cut while being reciprocated. The cutting blade shown in FIG. 10(c)takes the form of an elongated fine rod provided with a cutting edge655c at its lower end. This cutting blade is suitable for forming acircular opening. The cutting blade shown in FIG. 10(d) is made of ahollow pipe formed with a cutting edge 655d at its lower end, and isused to form a hole of a small diameter, whereas the cutting blade shownin FIG. 10(e) taken the form of a needle and is used to engage andremove a waste portion of a trimmed prepreg laminated sheet.

Furthermore, arm 72 is used to support a marking device 75 which appliesidentification marks (numerals or alphabets) to prepreg laminatedpieces. The marking device has a mechanism for ejecting, at a highspeed, a mixture of ink not affecting the quality of the prepreglaminated pieces and a solvent upon the surface of the prepreg laminatedpieces.

On the downstream side (opposite to head stockers 65) is provided aseparating table 105 as shown in FIG. 4. On the separating table 105,cut prepreg members 40a and 40b (see FIG. 1(D) and a waste member 45shown in FIG. 1(E) are separated from released sheet 82.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the side of the operating table opposite to guiderail 85 is disposed a transfer rail 91 for slidably supporting atransfer device 90. This transfer device includes prepreg laminatedmember take out means 92 for taking out prepreg lamination members 40aand 40b formed by cutting prepreg laminated sheet 30 to have desiredshapes as shown in FIG. 1(D) from the upper surface of separating table105. A suction disc, for example, can be used as the prepreg laminatedtake out means 92 carried by swinging arm 93 movable between separatingtable 105 and a shaping jig support 101A.

As shown in FIG. 11, the separating table 105 is formed with a pluralityof perforations 111A penetrating through the table 105. Verticallymovable pins 112A are inserted into respective perforations 111A. Pins112A are moved in the vertical direction by air cylinders 113Arespectively connected to a source of pressurized air 114A through pipes115A and electromagnetic valves, not shown.

A plurality of clamping rollers 116A for clamping the laminated prepregsheet 30 are disposed above table 80. These clamping rollers 116A aredisplaced from each other with a predetermined spacing to be rotatableindependently. These rollers 116A are driven through belts 117A as shownin FIG. 4.

Adjacent to one end of the separating table 105 close to the operatingtable 80 is disposed a scraper 118 which separates released sheet 82 andlaminated prepreg sheet 80. As shown in FIG. 11, a mark reading device119A is provided on the opposite end of the separating table 105 forreading marks applied on the upper surface of the laminated prepregsheet 30.

The laminated prepreg members 40a and 40b are cut to have predeterminedshape by shaping device 100A and are used to prepare a desired laminatedprepreg article. As shown in FIG. 4, shaping device 100A is constitutedby shaping jigs 102A, a support 101A for supporting jigs 102A, a shapingmachine 103A provided with a heater and a press, not shown, and a jigexchanging device 104A which exchanges jigs 102A between support 101Aand shaping machine 103A.

The operations of prepreg cutting apparatus 50, prepreg tape exchangingdevice 55, removable head 70, column sliding means, removable headmoving means, lamination attachment 61, trimming attachment 63, transferdevice 90, laminated prepreg member take out member 92 and shapingmember 100A which constitute the laminated prepreg member manufacturingmachine of this invention are controlled by a control device 120Acontaining predetermined programs.

More particularly, as shown in FIG. 13, control device 120A is made upof a composite formation supervisory device 120a, prepreg cuttingcontrol device 120b, lamination/trimming/marking control device 120c,and transfer control device 120d.

The composite formation supervisory device 120a has the followingfunctions.

(a) a running control function which issues instructions for starting,interruption and termination of an operating schedule, (b) an operationsupervisory function effecting display and recording of the operatingcondition, (c) schedule data supervisory functions including inputtingand changing of data necessary for schedule running, and displaying ofworking conditions, (d) a NC data supervisory function performingedition, registration, and deletion of NC data prepared by the dataforming function, a down-load to various control devices, and (e) dataforming function forming NC data for various steps necessary forautomatically operating the laminated prepreg member manufacturingmachine.

The NC data forming function can be divided into an automaticprogramming function (formation of Cutter Location Data (CL data)), apost processor function (formation of NC data) so as to form thefollowing data.

A. Prepreg cutting data formation

1 Prepreg automatic cutting programming.

Prepreg (having a configuration suitable for lamination) cutting CL dataare prepared from the lamination CL data prepared by the automaticlamination program.

2 Prepreg cutting post processor.

Prepreg cutting NC data are formed (which can be executed by the prepregcutting device) based on the prepreg cutting CL data prepared by aprepreg cutting automatic program.

B. Formation of lamination data

1 Lamination automatic programming.

Lamination CL data for respective layers are automatically formed basedupon lamination conditions prepared by dialogue system (interactiveprocessing) inputs.

2 Lamination NC data are formed that can be executed by thelamination/trimming/marking control device in accordance with laminationCL data prepared by the automatic lamination program.

C. Preparation of trimming data

1 Automation automatic program.

Trimming CL data are automatically formed in accordance with trimmingconditions determined by the communication type input.

2 Trimming NC data that can be executed by thelamination/trimming/marking device are formed in accordance withtrimming CL data by an automatic trimming program.

D. Preparation of marking data

1 Automatic marking programs.

Marking CL data are automatically formed in accordance with markingconditions determined by communication inputs.

2 Marking NC data that can be executed with thelamination/trimming/marking control device are prepared in accordancewith the marking CL data formed by the automatic marking program.

The prepreg cutting control device 120b has the following variousfunctions:

(a) Switching of operation modes (DNC/automatic/manual), (b) reportingthe status of the operating conditions to an upper order compositesupervisory device, (c) automatic operation of the prepreg cutting inaccordance with the prepreg cutting NC data, (d) reporting of a cutprepreg preparation operation completion.

The lamination/trimming/marking control device 120c has the followingvarious functions:

(a) switching of the operation mode (DNC/automatic/manual), (b)reporting the status of the operating state to the upper order compositesupervisory device, (c) an automatic operation of the prepreg cuttingdevice in accordance with composite forming NC data(lamination/marking/trimming), (d) automatic exchange of the laminationhead, trimming head and the like, (e) automatic operation of a wasteprocessing device, and (f) reporting of completion of the preparation ofthe prepreg lamination operation.

Furthermore, the transfer control device 120d has the following variousfunctions:

(a) switching of the operating mode (DNC/automatic/manual), (b)reporting the operating condition status to the upper order compositesupervisory device, (c) transfer of the laminated prepreg membersaccording to the order of priority, (d) reporting of the completion ofthe preparation of the transfer operation.

The laminated prepreg member manufacturing machine described aboveoperates as follows.

Upon initiation of the automatic operation, the preparation designationdata regarding the product and to be supplied to various devices of themachine which have been registered in a schedule table of the compositeformation supervisory device 120a are displayed by display devices ofrespective devices. The operator of the machine prepares a prepreg tape,a paper pipe, cutter, etc. in accordance with the preparationdesignation data. Upon completion of the preparation operation,preparation operation informing signals are sent to the compositeformation supervisory device 120a from the display devices of respectivedevices. The composite formation supervisory device 120a confirms theoperating mode of the control device which has received the preparationcompletion informing signal, so as to transfer schedule data to a devicewhich has been brought to a DNC mode, thereby issuing a starting signal.When each one of the devices receives a starting signal, it starts anautomatic operation in accordance with transferred data.

At first, the pinion driving motor 87 mounted on the column 71 isenergized to move column 71 and arm 72 along guide rail 85 for movingremovable head 70 to a position above the head stocker 65. The holdingmember (pull stud) of a predetermined lamination attachment 61 in theattachment stocker 65 is held by the holding mechanism of the removablehead 70 so as to mount the lamination attachment 61 on the removablehead 70. As has been described hereinabove, by using the prepregexchanging device 55, a prepreg tape from which unnecessary prepregportions have been removed is taken out from the prepreg cutting device50 and the taken out prepreg tape is mounted on the laminationattachment 61 held by the removable head 70.

The removable head 70 holding the lamination attachment 61 mounted witha cut prepreg tape moves the column 71 and arm 72 along guide rail 85 tomove them to a predetermined position on the operating table 80. Byoperating worm 708 and worm wheel 707, the removable head 70 is swung toindex the lamination attachment to a predetermined position. While thelamination attachment 61 is being operated by power transmitted fromremovable head 70 and by a control signal, the lamination attachment 61is moved in a predetermined direction on table 81. When the removablehead 70 is moved along arm 72 by using the ball screw 73 for moving thearm 72 and column 71 along guide rail 85, whereby the laminationattachment 61 can be moved to any position of the upper surface of table81. For example, where the moving speed of the removable head 70 alongarm 72 is made to be equal to that of the arm 72 along guide rail 85,the lamination attachment 61 can be moved in a direction at an angle of45° with respect to the guide rail 85. Where the direction of laminationof the prepreg tapes is to be changed, the swinging and indexingoperations of the lamination attachment can be effected by theoperations of indexing mechanisms 707 and 708 of the removable head 70.

A cut prepreg paper 10 is successively payed out under tension from thelamination attachment 61 and prepreg pieces 14 separated from each otherby slits 13 are urged against the released sheets 82 on the table 81.When the lamination attachment 61 is moved in a desired direction, forexample 45° with respect to the horizontal direction, while the prepregpieces 14 are being urged against the table 81 the cut prepreg pieces 14would be peeled off from backing tapes of the cut prepreg tapes 10 andoriented in a predetermined direction on the released sheet 82 on table81. By continuously performing this operation a prepreg sheet is formedon table 81. Spent backing paper is removed from the laminationattachment 61 by the operation of the prepreg tape exchanging devices55, and a new cut prepreg tape 10 is mounted on the laminationattachment 61. Thereafter, prepreg sheets are oriented in thepredetermined direction and then laminated on the already formed prepregsheet. In this manner, a laminated prepreg sheet 30 is formed includinga plurality of laminated sheets. The prepreg sheet can be formed at ahigh accuracy by accurately positioning the prepreg tapes by using thetape position detector.

Upon forming a desired laminated prepreg sheet 30, a laminationcompletion signal is sent to a composite formation supervisory device120a. Then the composite formation supervisory device 120a issues anattachment exchanging instruction for moving again arm 72 toward theattachment stocker 65 for removing a lamination attachment 61 held byremovable head 70, thus holding the trimming attachment 63 with movablehead 70.

The removable head 70 holding the trimming attachment 63 is moved on theoperating table 80 for trimming the laminated prepreg sheet 30 to obtainlaminated prepreg members 40a and 40b each having a desiredconfiguration under the control of a control signal from thelamination/trimming/marking control device 120c. As has been describedabove, the movement of the trimming attachment 63 is made by combiningthe movement of arm 72 along guide rail 85, and the indexing operationof the trimming attachment 63.

A plurality of (for example 3) cutting blades 632a, 632b and 632c ofdifferent types are mounted on turret 633 of trimming attachment 63 asshown in FIG. 8. As the turret 633 is rotated, a cutting tool to be usedis selected according to a specification (regarding shape anddimension). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, cutting blade 632a isselected. This cutting blade 632a is lowered to a depth enough to cutthe laminated prepreg sheet 30 but not to cut mold release sheet(backing sheet) 82 for effecting trimming. This cutting depth iscontrolled as follows. The amount of protrusion of the cutting edges ofthe cutting blades 632a, 632b and 632c is predetected by the cuttingedge protrusion detector 651. Thereafter at the time of trimming, thedistance between the surface of table 81 and the level detector 646,that is the position of the cutting edge of the cutting blade 632a isdetected with level detector 646 so as to control the amount of loweringof the trimming attachment 63 to obtain an optimum cutting edgeposition. When the laminated prepreg sheet 30 is wavy with respect tothe surface of table 81, the stepping motor 643 is operated according tothe wavy state. At the same time, sliding member 641, arm 639, turretsupporting member 638 and cutting blade 632a are raised or loweredduring which the laminated prepreg sheet 30 is cut according to the truelevel of laminated prepreg sheet 30.

The trimming operation of the laminated prepreg sheet 30 is made bymoving the removal head 70 holding the trimming attachment 63. Where thedirection of cutting changes (for example, where the direction ofcutting is changed by 90°), pinion 636, gear 635a and spindle 635 arerotated by servomotor 637 for indexing them whereby the direction of thecutting edge of the cutting blade is changed (90° in this example). Inthe same manner, where it is necessary to cut prepreg sheet to have acurved shape, concurrently with the movement of the trimming attachment63, a cutting blade is continuously rotated by servomotor 637 so as toalways orient the cutting edge in the cutting direction.

Detector 651 for detecting the amount of protrusion of the cutting edgecan also be used for detecting the wear quantity and breakage of thecutting edge. When an abnormal condition of the cutting blade isdetected, a new cutting blade is exchanged with a faulty cutting blade.Upon completion of the trimming step, the lamination/trimming/markingcontrol device 120c sends a trimming completion signal to the compositeforming supervisory device 120a.

The cutting of the laminated prepreg sheet 30 is sequentially performedon the operating table 80 in accordance with desired configurations oflaminated prepreg members 40a and 40b. At this time, identificationmarks 41 are applied to respective laminated prepreg members 40a and 40bby marking device 75. This marking operation is controlled bylamination/trimming/marking control device 120c. When the markingoperation is completed, a termination signal is sent to the compositeformation supervisory device 120a.

Then transfer control device 120d produces a laminated prepreg membertake out signal, with the result that the cut laminated prepreg members40a and 40b are sent to separating table 105 and taken out from thelaminated prepreg sheet by means of laminated prepreg member take outdevice 92.

The laminated prepreg sheet is transferred to the separating table 105together with mold release sheet 82 while moving to separation table 105from operating table 80, the scraper 118A would be inserted between moldrelease sheet 82 and the laminated prepreg sheet 30. As a consequence,the laminated prepreg sheet 30 is separated from mold release sheet 82so that only the laminated prepreg sheet 30 is transferred to theseparating table 105.

On the separating table 105, the laminated prepreg sheet 30 istransferred due to the rotation of clamping roller 116A so that thesheet 30 is stopped at a predetermined position. This stopping operationis controlled by reading the identification mark on the laminatedprepreg sheet 30 with a mark reader 119A and then a read out signal issent to the composite formation supervisory device 120a.

Then air from a source of pressurized air 114A is sent to only one of apredetermined air cylinders 113A as shown in FIG. 1 to raise apredetermined pin 112A whereby already trimmed laminated prepreg members40a and 40b are pushed upwardly by pin 112A to be separated from thelaminated prepreg sheet 30. These separated laminated prepreg members40a and 40b are sucked by a sucking disc held by laminated prepregmember 92, for example, a sucking disc held by swinging arm 93, and arethen removed from separating table 105.

These removed laminated prepreg members 40a and 40b are conveyed to apredetermined shaping jig support 101A by transfer device 90. At theshaping device 100A heating and press operations are performed by meansof jig 102A to form a prepreg product having a predeterminedconfiguration.

A waste of the laminated prepreg sheet from which laminated prepregmembers 40a and 40b have been taken out is conveyed to a succeedingprocessing step from the separating table 105. When the waste isprocessed, a transfer completion signal is sent to composite formingsupervisory device 120a from transfer control device 120d, thuscompleting a series of the manufacturing steps.

These steps are controlled by control device 120A. Once respectivecontrol devices 120b, 120c and 120d commence automatic operations, theautomatic operation is continued until all data sent from the compositeformation supervisory device 120a have been processed. Although thequantity of the transferred data depends upon the capacity of memorymeans of respective control devices, at a maximum, the quantity of thedata is equal to the sum of lamination data, trimming data and markingdata corresponding to one prepreg sheet at the prepreg cutting device,and one sheet at the lamination/trimming/marking control device 120c.When the data in respective control devices becomes zero, these devicesrequest data for composite formation supervisory device 120a. Thiscomposite formation supervisory device checks the schedule data of adevice which has requested data, and transfers data when there areremaining data. But the composite formation supervisory device 120asends a stop signal to a device whose schedule data has been processed.Where an alarm signal is generated during the automatic operation, onedevice immediately stops its operation according to the level of thealarm signal, whereas other devices stop operation or stop aftertermination of one block. When the devices shown in FIG. 13 stop theiroperation, they issue a message and inform the alarm signal to thecomposite formation supervisory device 120a.

By a series of operations described above, a laminated prepreg membercan be automatically manufactured.

This embodiment has the following advantages.

(1) It is possible to continuously perform the prepreg forming operationand the cutting operation of a laminated prepreg sheet on the sameoperating table so that it is not necessary to move the prepreg sheet onthe way of manufacturing.

For this reason, it is not necessary to store the laminated prepregsheet in a refrigeration cabinet or convey it to other working positionwhich have been necessary in the prior art prepreg sheet manufacturingmachine. Thus, not only the operations are efficient but also theworking time can be reduced.

(2) Lamination and cutting operations can be made by successivelymounting different lamination attachment 61 and trimming attachment onthe same removable head 70. For this reason, laminating and cuttingoperations of the prepreg layers can be made continuously without anywaiting time, thus enabling a line balance among various steps.

(3) All operations starting from cutting of the prepreg tape and endingwith taking out of the laminated prepreg member can be madeautomatically.

Consequently, it is possible to prepare manufacturing programs includingall steps, which renders easy the supervision of manufacturing.

(4) Since a prepreg tape from which unnecessary portions have beenremoved is mounted on the lamination attachment, the laminatingoperation can be made at a high speed and at a high efficiency.

It should be understood that the construction of the laminated prepregmember manufacturing machine is not limited to that illustrated in theembodiment. More particularly, various constructional elements can bedisposed at various positions. Thus, for example, the attachment stocker65 can be disposed at a position opposite to that shown in FIG. 3. Wherea large size removable head and a large size lamination attachment areused, both ends of arm 72 can be supported by suitable supporting means,which improves the supporting rigidity of various attachments.

When a large prepreg sheet 20 is formed by assembling a plurality ofprepreg segments 20 as shown in FIG. 1(iii) at the initial and endportions of the assembled prepreg segments 14, there is a tendency ofpeel off, that is these portions do not bond with each other into anintegral sheet so that the operator must always watch the bonding state.In a prior art machine disclosed in Japanese Laid Open PatentSpecification No. 35951/1986, high vertical posts are provided on bothsides of an operating table, and horizontal rails are mounted on theupper ends of the posts for permitting a horizontally movable overheadrunning crane or cross rails to run along the rails, the crane beingused to hang and convey a laminating head.

When an overhead running crane is used, the operator can readilyapproach the laminating head and a sufficiently wide space is availableabout the operating table, thus permitting the operator to work easily.However, the whole apparatus including the posts and overhead runningcrane becomes large, thus occupying a wide space. Further, as the weightof the parts to be moved during laying is large, the control ability ispoor. Moreover, the overhead crane or cross rails disturbs loading andunloading of composite prepreg tape onto and from the operating table ora laminating head.

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 20, 21 and 22 comprises an operating table810 provided with longitudinal linear ways 811 on one side of theoperating table 810. The linear ways 811 extend in parallel forsupporting longitudinally movable column base 813 through ball bearings812. The column base 813 is provided with a pinion 815 rotated by adriving member 814, for example an electric motor. The pinion 815 mesheswith a rack 816 provided in parallel with linear ways 811. The directionof the linear ways 811 is herein called a X direction.

As shown in FIG. 21 a horizontal arm 817 extending in the Y direction ismounted on the upper end of column base 812. The arm 817 has an invertedU shaped crosssection. On the lower ends of both legs of U are formedlinear ways 818 respectively. The arm 817 is movable in the Y directionby bearings 819 and 820 mounted on the upper end of column base 813. Theupper portion of arm 817 is pressed downwardly by clamping rollers 821rotatably mounted on column base 813. A feed screw 822 is contained inarm 817 in parallel with linear way 818. Feed screw 822 is rotated bydriving means 823 contained in arm 817. The feed screw 822 engages a nut824 secured to column base 813.

To the front end of arm 817 is secured a saddle 827 to be movable in thevertical (Z) direction through a vertical linear way 825 and bearings826. Saddle 827 is driven in the vertical direction by driving means828.

A vertical shaft 829 is rotatably mounted on saddle 827 and a laminatinghead 830 is secured to the lower end of shaft 829 which is supported bya sleeve bearing 831. Shaft 829 is rotated by driving means 832 forrotating laminating head 830 about the axis of shaft 829.

The lamination head 830 includes a reel 834 for paying out a compositeprepreg tape 833, a backing paper take up reel 835, a bonding roller 836and their driving means, not shown.

The positions and moving speeds of column base 813, arm 817 and saddle827 driven by driving means 814, 823 and 828 respectively aresimultaneously controlled for three dimensionally movable laminatinghead 830 on operating table 810. The rotation of the laminating head 830driven by driving means 832 is also controlled automatically so as tocoincide the direction of movement of laminating head 830 with thedirection of movement of the laminating head 830 in the XY plane.

The laminating operation of prepreg sheets is performed by the anglecontrol of laminating head 830 effected by driving means 832 and threedimensional movement of the laminating head 830 effected by simultaneouscontrol of column base 813, arm 817 and saddle 827 performed by drivingmeans 814, 823 and 828 respectively.

Since arm 817 is constructed such that the laminating head 830 ismounted on its outer end for moving the laminating head in the Ydirection by the movement of the arm 817, the length of this arm can bereduced to about 1/2 of that of a prior art gantry type laminatingmachine. The column base 813 is not provided for the prior art gantrytype laminating machine, but since it has a relatively compactconstruction, the sum of the weights of the column base 813 and the arm817 is substantially smaller than the weight of the arm of the prior artgantry type laminating machine. As a consequence, the controllability ofthe movement of the laminating head 830 can be improved, whereby thelaminating operation can be made at a high accuracy and efficiency.

Since arm 817 supporting laminating head 830 is supported by column base813 moved along linear ways 811 separated from the operating table 813,the upper surface thereof is opened, so that the operator can standclose to the operating table to precisely supervise the laminatingoperation of the prepreg piece. Furthermore, loading and unloading ofpay out reel 834 and backing paper take up reel 835, and loading andunloading of prepreg pieces, not shown, on and from the operating table810 can be performed readily.

FIG. 22 shows a modification of the prepreg laminating machine shown inFIGS. 20 and 21. In this modification, the arm 827 is divided intotelescoped parts 817A and 817B for reducing the extent of protrusion tothe right side as viewed in FIG. 22. The first arm 817A is rotatablysupported by column base 813 and is moved in the longitudinal directionby a feed screw 822a driven by an electric motor 823 and a nut 824aengaging the feed screw 823a and secured to the first arm 817A. Thesecond arm 817B is moved in an interlocked relation with respect to thefirst arm 817A by racks 841 and 842 respectively provided on column base813 and the second arm 817B in an opposed relationship, and a pinion 843simultaneously meshing with both racks 841 and 842, the pinion 843 beingrotatably supported by the first arm 817A. With this construction, thereis an advantage that both arms 817A and 817B can be driven by a singledriving motor 823. However it is possible to drive the first and secondarms 817A and 817B with independent driving means.

As above described, since the upper surface of the operating table isopen, supervision of the laminating operation of prepreg layers is madeeasy. It is also possible to make easy loading and unloading of thelamination head on the operating table and loading and unloading of acomposite prepreg tape and completed prepreg laminated product. Suchloading and unloading operations can be made automatically. Furthermore,it is possible to decrease the weight of a mechanism for moving thelaminating head, thus improving controllability, simplifying theconstruction of the laminating machine and decreasing the installationspace of the machine.

While the presently preferred embodiments of the present invention havebeen shown and described, it is to be understood these disclosures arefor the purpose of illustration and that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a laminated prepregmember, comprising:feeding a prepreg tape comprised of a prepreg layerreleasably bonded on a flexible backing paper to a cutting device, saidprepreg tape having side edges on opposite sides thereof; cutting aplurality of slits or grooves in said prepreg tape which extendcompletely through said prepreg layer while maintaining said backingpaper intact and which extend completely across said prepreg layer fromside to side thereof; controlling said cutting device with a prepregcutting control device such that said slits form a plurality ofunnecessary prepreg portions positioned between prepreg segments,feeding said prepreg tape with a plurality of said prepreg segments andsaid unnecessary prepreg portions mounted on said flexible backing paperto an unnecessary prepreg portion removing device; adjusting saidremoving device at predetermined intervals so as to remove a series ofsaid unnecessary prepreg portions from said backing paper whileretaining said prepreg segments in contact with said backing paper whensaid prepreg tape is fed to said removing device such that a cut prepregtape with said unnecessary prepreg portions removed is obtained, andsaid adjusting of said removing device including swinging an armsupported by a supporting member of said removing device such that afree end of said arm engages an unnecessary prepreg portion and movingthe supporting member in a direction essentially transverse to adirection of tape movement so as to separate the engaged unnecessaryprepreg portion from said backing paper; loading said cut prepreg tapewith said unnecessary prepreg portions removed and said retained prepregsegments on to a lamination attachment; moving said laminationattachment in a predetermined direction while urging said cut prepregtape from which said unnecessary prepreg portions have been removedagainst a surface of an operating table at a first position; peeling offsaid cut prepreg segments from said backing paper; bonding said peeledoff cut prepreg segments to said operating table surface; successivelyorienting said lamination attachment with loaded cut prepreg tape indifferent predetermined directions such that said prepreg segmentscombine to form a first prepreg sheet layer of a predeterminedconfiguration, and said slits being formed in said prepreg tape suchthat upon removal of said unnecessary prepreg portions, ends of saidprepreg segments are shaped and spaced apart in a manner which resultsin a predetermined periphery for said prepreg sheet being formed afterbonding of said peeled off cut prepreg segments; urging additional cutprepreg tape free of unnecessary prepreg portions into contact with saidfirst prepreg sheet layer so as to form a multilayer laminated prepregsheet; trimming said laminated prepreg sheet on said operation tablesurface while said operating table is still at said first position so asto form a laminated prepreg member; and separating said prepreglaminated member from a remaining portion of said laminated prepregsheet.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising trimming aplurality of laminated prepreg members while said laminated prepregmembers are supported on said operating table and applyingidentification marks on respective laminated prepreg members beforeseparating said laminated prepreg members from said laminated prepregsheet.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein urging additional cutprepreg tape into contact with prepreg segments of said first prepregsheet layer includescontinuously laminating additional prepreg segmentson said first prepreg sheet layer in an orientation crossing anorientation used for applying said prepreg segments forming said firstprepreg sheet.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein cutting saidprepreg tape includes cutting with an ultrasonic wave cutter.
 5. Amethod as recited in claim 1, further comprising mounting saidlamination attachment directly to a holding mechanism of a supportassembly, which support assembly is adapted to move said laminationattachment along a plurality of axes.
 6. A method as recited in claim 5,further comprising detaching said lamination attachment from saidholding mechanism and subsequently engaging a trimming attachment usedin trimming said laminated prepreg sheet.
 7. A method as recited inclaim 1 further comprising drawing with a suction device said backingpaper into contact with an upper surface of an underlying anvil so as toretain said backing paper while said engaged unnecessary prepreg portionis removed.
 8. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein loading the cutprepreg tape onto a laminating attachment includes winding the cutprepreg tape onto a coil so as to form a roll of cut prepreg tape andpassing the roll to a prepreg tape exchanging device, and adjusting theexchanging device so as to replace an empty coil on said laminationattachment with the roll of cut prepreg tape.
 9. A method as recited inclaim 8 further comprising adjusting a removable head supported by acantilever beam extending over said operating table into contact withsaid lamination attachment after said exchange device has replaced theempty coil with the roll of cut prepreg tape.
 10. A method as recited inclaim 9 further comprising releasing said lamination attachment fromsaid removable head and placing said removable head into contact with atrimming attachment so as to secure said trimming attachment to saidremovable head.
 11. A method of manufacturing a laminated prepregmember, comprising;passing a prepreg tape comprised of a prepreg layerbonded to a backing layer through a cutter assembly, and said prepreglayer including transversely spaced apart side edges extendinglongitudinally along said tape; cutting entirely through said prepreglayer and completely across, from side edge to side edge, said prepreglayer while maintaining said backing layer intact such that prepregsegments of predetermined dimension s as well as unnecessary prepregportions are formed, and said prepreg segments being separated by saidunnecessary prepreg portions; passing said cut prepreg layer past aremoving device and removing said unnecessary prepreg portions from saidbacking layer while retaining said prepreg segments on said backinglayer, and said removing being achieved by adjusting the removing deviceintermittently so that said unnecessary portions are completelyseparated and removed from said backing paper while said prepregsegments remain in contact with the backing paper during passage of saidprepreg tape past said removing device, and removing said unnecessaryprepreg portions includes swinging a swing arm supported by a supportmember of said removing device so that a free end of said swing armengages an unnecessary prepreg portion and adjusting said swing armwhile a section of said backing layer below said engaged unnecessaryprepreg portion is drawn into contact with an upper surface of anunderlaying anvil so as to retain said backing layer section in positionwhile said engaged unnecessary prepreg portion is removed by theadjusting of said swing arm; positioning said prepreg tape having theprepreg segments retained on said backing layer and said unnecessaryprepreg portions removed onto a support roller; transferring the supportroller with prepreg tape having the prepreg segments retained on saidbacking layer and said unnecessary prepreg portions removed from a firstlocation to a second location; attaching said support roller to alamination attachment at said second location; bonding said prepregsegments to an underlying surface provided by an operating tablepositioned in a first position so as to form a first prepreg sheetlayer; separating said backing layer form said prepreg segments suchthat said prepreg segments bonded to said underlying surface are free ofsaid backing layer; bonding additional prepreg segments to an uppersurface of said first prepreg sheet layer so as to form a laminatedprepreg sheet, and said additional prepreg segments being orientated soas to extend in a different direction than the prepreg segments in thefirst prepreg layer; and trimming a plurality of prepreg members awayfrom a remaining portion of said laminated prepreg sheet while saidlaminated prepreg sheet remains supported on said underlying surface andwith said operating table being maintained at said first position bothduring boding of said prepreg segments to said underlying surface andduring trimming.
 12. A method as recited in claim 11 further comprisingapplying identification means on to said plurality or prepreg membersprior to removing said prepreg members from said operating table.
 13. Amethod as recited in claim 11 wherein cutting said prepreg layerincludes cutting with an ultrasonic wave cutter.
 14. A method as recitedin claim 11 further comprising moving a support assembly having aholding mechanism from a first position to a second position andattaching said lamination attachment to said holding mechanism at saidsecond position, said method further comprising mounting said supportroller to said lamination attachment while said support roller is atsaid second location and at a time subsequent to the attaching of saidlamination attachment to said holding mechanism.
 15. A method as recitedin claim 14 further comprising releasing said lamination attachment fromsaid holding mechanism and subsequently mounting a trimming attachmentused in trimming said prepreg members to said holding mechanism.
 16. Themethod as recited in claim 11 wherein adjusting said swing arm includesshifting said support member in a direction essentially transverse to adirection of tape travel such that said swing arm shifts transverselytogether with said support member and removes said unnecessary prepregportion from said backing layer.